Overview
- Brian Hooker’s new U.S. attorney, Crystal Marie Hauser, on Wednesday urged the public to give him the benefit of the doubt after his return from the Bahamas.
- He says Lynette Hooker fell from a small dinghy in rough weather on April 4 while they were heading back to their yacht, Soulmate, near Elbow Cay.
- Search teams in the Bahamas have used shoreline patrols, boats, drones, submersible cameras, and cadaver dogs, yet no trace of Lynette has been found.
- A bartender at the Abaco Inn questioned the reported timing, noting the couple left around 7 to 7:30 p.m. and that Brian reached Marsh Harbour about 4 a.m., a trip he said should not take eight hours over roughly four miles.
- Lynette’s daughter, Karli Aylesworth, traveled to the islands, met with authorities, retrieved some of her mother’s belongings, and voiced doubts about Brian’s account, as Bahamian prosecutors continue the case without charges after his April 8 arrest and April 13 release.